Alik was still dressed regally, though the contrast between his and the sun-conscious garments of Tatooine was even sharper than it had been when they'd found him. He'd lost the elegant attaché he'd been carrying, though Rey assumed the Hutt had purchased that along with whatever was inside it, and he was developing a five-o'clock-shadow, albeit faint and only visible in the sun given the fairness of his hair. Apparently he was now flush with cash and he had no visible marks on his body, so she imagined he was telling the truth that he'd made a sale rather than capitulated to some art-thief's blows.
"Now, now," Alik said to Lump, when the Wookiee caught sight of him again. Lump was, unsurprisingly, annoyed to see that Alik had somehow found his way back to them. She realized that Lump didn't trust him, and she couldn't blame him. Alik had kind of weaseled his way onto their ship. Then again, he'd purchased the droid and whatever information the droid contained, so Rey's irritation with him had to be tempered.
Where did you come from? Lump asked him. Are you following us now?
"No, he's not following us," Rey said, soothingly. "You're not, right?"
Alik looked stricken. "No!" he protested. Then, "Perhaps it's the Force bringing us together."
"Trust me," she said, wryly, ignoring his attempt at humor. "The Force is not this subtle."
Alik looked her out of the corner of his eye, and Lump only chuckled to himself. Who's the droid?
"I am 4198Z, at your service," Zed piped up.
"You understand him too?" Alik asked her, astonished.
"Sir, I am fluent in thirteen thousand -"
"Okay, quiet, Zed," Alik muttered. Zed was instantly silent. The droids Rey knew best wouldn't have responded that way at all; she thought of 3PO's certain indignance and wanted to smile. She did not.
"Zed is Alik's latest acquisition," Rey told Lump, gesturing over her shoulder, back at the droid. "She knows of some Skywalkers, but her previous owner wouldn't let her talk to me unless I bought her."
Lump chuffed excitedly. If Zed knew where to find the Skywalkers, then could get to the farm, bury the sabers, and get out of this stars-forsaken desert and back to the jungle like civilized beings.
"But you didn't buy her," Alik noted. He looked at Rey with a slight glint in his eye. "Did you."
She stared at him, trying to interpret his expression. The last thing she needed was another stupid man trying to trade for sex. She was never going to be desperate enough for that, not as long as she could fight and take care of herself. It would be easier still, of course, to simply use the Force to compel him to ask Zed for the location of the Skywalker farm, or just to beat it out of him. Perhaps, use the Force to beat it out of him.
She gave her head a shake, clearing out those increasingly dark thoughts. Fear leads to the Dark side, she reminded herself. She must not become so focused on her plan that she forget why she was doing all this.
"What do you want, Alik?" she asked, at last.
He smiled, and the glint changed from flirtation to serious. "I want to come with you."
"Ugh," Rey sighed. "Absolutely not."
"No adventure, no droid," he said, his voice almost sing-song.
"Why would you want to come with us? You don't even know where we're going."
"I know that you're going somewhere, and I want to find out where." No adventure, no droid.
Rey lowered her voice, hearing her master's voice in her head. "Adventures are for children's stories. I've seen real war and felt real loss. You want what doesn't exist. It will not turn out the way you think."
Alik paused, seeming momentarily chilled by her words. For an instant, he saw her, facing down darkness, her failures, her guilt, her pain. And he said, "I want to help you."
Rey's nose wrinkled. Alik was some pretty face from a wealthy home, trading art – whatever that meant – and looking for excitement. Yet he'd already shown a willingness to be helpful, having purchased the droid without even knowing why Rey wanted it. We can't help where we come from, she told herself, and she knew it was true. His family's past wasn't his fault any more than hers was her fault. She closed her eyes, partly in frustration and partly because she didn't want to see Lump's face when she said "Fine. Fine! You can come with us. I'm not fighting your battles for you though."
Alik's silver-blue eyes danced and he smiled broadly. "Excellent! Zed, tell us where to find what she's looking for, will you?"
The pink protocol droid seemed to rouse from a resting state at her master's words. "I seem to recall someone named Skywalker living on a moisture farm to the west," she said, evenly.
"When was that, Zed?" Rey asked, feeling the sense of urgency rising back up in her heart.
"More than fifty years ago now, madam," Zed said, her voice falling now. Even droids knew that half a century was a very long time to a human. Fifty years. Anything could have happened between then and now: the farm might not even be left standing.
Rey paused her spiraling thoughts and did the math in her mind. Luke had left Tatooine not too long before the Empire fell; that would be some thirty years ago. At most, Luke had lived there just thirty-five years ago, which was better than fifty. The Battle of Jakku had happened just weeks after the Battle of Endor, and she knew well how much sand filled in a space since then – and how well sand preserved what it covered. If the farm was to the west, even filled in with sand, it was still discoverable.
"Can you take us there?" she asked the droid.
"I am a protocol droid, madam, built for household work and etiquette. I am not suitable for long treks in -"
Alik cut her off. "Show us, Zed."
"Yes, sir," she said, and she began walking toward the setting sun. He was comfortable giving orders, Rey realized, and familiar with how to control a refractory droid.
"Wait," Rey called. "How far away is this?"
The droid stopped and turned back. "Approximately a day's walk, not including rest breaks."
Rey looked up at Alik, waiting for him to intercede. He gave an exasperated sigh; Rey wondered if he realized that was the exact tone of exasperation that he inspired in her. "Come back, Zed."
"We can take the Falcon," Rey offered.
"Excellent decision, madam," Zed said, crisply, returning to her master's side. "May I suggest that we wait until morning, sir?" she said, to Alik now. "It's quite an isolated area, and the open desert is not safe at night."
Rey couldn't argue with that, though she was quite sure that Zed was thinking mostly of herself being scavenged by Jawas than of the sentient beings being scavenged by Sand People. Alik was nodding, and for once it looked like Lump agreed with him.
"All right," Rey said, feeling the consensus of her companions. "Let's find a spot to set up camp."
"Camp?" Alik said, sounding a little bit scandalized. "Certainly not. There's a passable inn right in town; I stayed there last night and I'm sure they'll have a second room available."
"We can't afford an inn," Rey said, quickly; they were burning through the credits Chewbacca had so kindly given them and she needed to be able to get Lump home to Kashyyyk no matter what discomforts that meant.
Alik waved a hand dismissively. "Then you'll stay with me. My treat." With that, he started back toward the town, and Zed began to follow loyally.
"Hang on," Rey snapped at his turned back. First a droid, then a room; staying with a strange man overnight seemed a little too much like a familiar recipe for trouble. Alik looked at her for a moment, as if he were waiting for her to finish asking a question. Realization dawned on him belatedly and he opened his mouth to speak, but found himself speechless.
"Entirely up to you, of course," he stammered, after a moment. "It's my pleasure to be able to provide for new friends, but if you'd rather sleep out here -"
Lump interrupted him with a roar. He, for one, did not want to sleep outside in the sand again. With a Wookiee on her side, she reminded herself, there was little room for anything to go wrong, at least where this was concerned. Rey gave a reluctant nod and all four of them headed back into town and to the inn.